Irish Water Makes Metering Case With First Fix

Irish Water has introduced a new water-saving policy that its executives claim is worth 18 million liters per day.

The company says that a program dubbed the First Fix Scheme, underway for just six months, is already having major results, the Irish Mirror reported. According to Irish Water, the policy offers customers “a free leak investigation on the external supply pipe for their property where the water meter has indicated a possible leak” on that pipe. If a leak on the external supply pipe is identified, Irish Water will offer to repair this leak at no cost.

It adds up to a round of rare positive publicity for the utility, designed to show that installing water meters — though hotly protested in Ireland — has benefits for customers. Tap water had traditionally been free in Ireland until financial realities spurred the nation to change course. Unhappy customers have gathered in major protests across the country.

The First Fix policy has not freed the utility from public ire, but executives hope it will help. “While protests against the installation of meters continue, Irish Water said it is helping to find where big leaks are,” the Mirror reported. Thousands of residences have had leak repairs as a result of the effort.

There is some controversy around whether the policy really benefits consumers.

“As of the end of August, repairs have been carried out on just 3,500 properties and almost two thirds of these customers bore the cost of repairs themselves,” RTE News reported. “However, the utility said these repairs alone are saving an estimated 18 million liters of water every day, which it claims is enough water to provide the daily requirement of every home in County Kerry.”

A money-saving measure, the new charges were a condition of a bailout deal in 2010 when the Irish government sought billions in funding from the European Union and the International Money Fund just to stay up and running. Previously, Irish residents did not pay for tap water.

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